Should I self-publish?

Beeme, you write very well. Before you publish, ask yourself: Why do I write? Who is my audience? Do I wish many people would have a chance to read my thoughts? Are they worthwhile for this year, or possibly enjoyable 20 years from now? Do I wish to write for some form of recognition? Do I want to make money from my poetry? I suggest you look at those publications who may have published your work and compare your writing to the writers listed there. Google ten best and 25 best and 50 best poetry publications and check out the poetry there. See who ends up on the same lists. Do you compare? Submit some of your work to five or six in the different categories. If you publish in a publication, you may have 2-500 read your work. If you get a small publisher to publish your book you will have to use your time and energy to promote your book. How much time and energy will it take to make maybe $2 on each book sale? To make money you are better off taking your publisher-printed book, or ebook to talk shows, and/or readings at books stories, libraries, etc. A publisher-printed book is eligible for awards. From what I understand, a self-published book is not eligible for the good book awards, unless there is some small niche somewhere. A self-published book may be printed for $5 each and resold for $15 IF it is unique, nice printing, good soft cover. Then if you publish say 500 you can over a year or two sell them all, and finance your next one. Will your friends run as you keep trying to sell them, or will they run to you for a copy to buy. Try and build up a core of buying supporters, say at least 25-50 who will at least get you a fair amount of your investment back. Last but not least, NEVER publish with anyone where you have to pay ANY MONEY. They are not interested in selling your book. They want your money. I hope these thoughts are helpful. PS. My wife and I met a gentleman who created our very nice website: www.wsprog.com/rp/ I hope you check it ALL out. There are about 12 FREE DOWNLOADS we wish to share, and read my blog "PROVENCHER PATHS' and the blog titled FREE DOWNLOADS, with reasons why I now enjoy to do so. Remember one thing--you are the best writer you know; continue to develop YOUR OWN niche; and whatever you choose to do, enjoy the journey. I know I love to write, and the fun my wife and I have sharing is very fulfilling. We are both over 68 and know that sharing our thoughts and observations is a gift, an outreach of our vision on the world and all who live in it. Richard and Esther Provencher

Why not try wordclay.com where you just upload your stuff all for free and they print copies amd give a royalty. You can buy an ISBN for $99 but you don't have to. You are for sale on online bookstores (Not shops). Self publishing is not vanity, and seems to me a viable alternative to waiting forever !

I don't know. I read a handful of your poems, and I didn't get it. I think that as a general rule, poems should not only be about something but that a casual, intelligent reader should be able to understand what it is(those poems that I read may very well meet the first suggestion but not mostly the second.) However, you're received 37 cherries(which aren't given out so easily and not without some discretion.) So probably the handful of your recent poems weren't representative or some of the flaw is in my perception. I don't think that authors, especially poets, should hesistate too much to self-publish. I make the distinction between poets and other authors because the market right now places an absurdly low valuation on poetry, one that's highly unlikely to last that many decades. Besides, there are many now famous books that were self-published, like Nietzche's "thus spake Zorathustra" and "Walden." I've self-published 5 books over 6 years, and the proceeds don't cover more than trips to the coffeehouse. But I have gotten hundreds of copies of those politically heretical books out into the world, and I don't regret it. What I do regret is not falling earlier on my recent practice of sending copies to prominent poets from my state, instead of to reviewers(I got only two newspaper reviews out of dozens and dozens of copies sent followed up by phone-calls, and though these reviews were long and positive,) there was very little response. The real artist/poet who has something to say will get his works published in any way if it's humanly possible. This is my opinion.

I think if one wants a product, make a book - see suggestions above, it depends what one wants the product for.. I thought recently to make a photo/poetry book with one of the many photodeveloper companies online - at least one is offering free hardback book at the mo,,,thought to make a book with photo art, poems, art of friends, greatgrandads :) - its a good process for a poet to structure their idea for a book, choose which poems etc - and good to feel it in your hand without paying more than 3.99 postage! Dont know how much text you can include with a photo, but can include some -and maybe a photo of text would work somehow too..? Easy to reproduce as many as you want/need after..An idea anyway :)

The negative stigmas that once surrounded self-publishing are eroding - if you really want to see your work in print, it's the one sure-fire way. If you have other reasons, then I'd read the comments above carefully.

I can with minor reservations recommend PublishAmerica. They're free and they provide some services like graphic design and editing(yeah, I know.) Also, they give you a free ISBN and get your book on Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, etc.. My earlier letter was focused on whether or not to self-publish, but that's the service that I'm most familiar with: publishamerica.com I've also used wordclay.com, createspace.com, and I've put up book on Amazon's Kindle(just scroll to the bottom of Amazon.com )

yes.

Beeme your wonderful enough for a book, you can put my paintings of your butterflies to the light poem in if you want K